Govt not selling petroleum agreements to foreigners — President

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has debunked the perception that the government is engaged in a sell-out of petroleum agreements to international investors.

He said the government had always put the national interest first, adding that in the circumstances where some investors felt aggrieved, it was not about any unfavourable investment climate in the country.

The President urged the people to face up to the reality of global petroleum exploration and trade situation, and allow the country to formulate policies that would work to produce results in the national interest.  

President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the Jubilee House in Accra at the weekend, when a delegation from the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), led by its Chairperson, Emerita Professor Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf, called on him to discuss the prospects and challenges in the upstream petroleum industry.

In attendance were the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare; the Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, Herbert Krapa; the Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Joseph Dadzie; the acting Secretary to the President, Ekow Essuman; some officials of the ministry, the GNPC and the PIAC Secretariat.

The PIAC delegation briefed the President about the declining oil production in the country since 2020, and the outcome of a two-day technical workshop organised in Accra by the committee and other stakeholders in the petroleum industry.

Dialogue

President Akufo-Addo said it was unfortunate that some people found it difficult to accommodate the challenges and stressed the need to promote dialogue and debate in the country on how to give fiscal and other incentives to big players in the upstream industry.

"We should open up to embrace the best options that will enable us maximise returns from the offshore oil production, especially in the wake of the debate about energy transition as opposed to our search for investments in hydrocarbons," he said.

The President said it was time for the nation to confront the challenges to enable it to deal with some of the hard market facts in order to exploit oil for the good of the present and future generations.

He called for a “strong nationalist movement championing justice in the extractive business,” adding that "I am all for it. We should defend our national assets, but we should look at what is feasible in the world and fashion the best in the industry."

Investors

The President further said that the country had done its best to attract investments in the sector by inviting international oil companies (IOCs) to lead their involvement in the oil space to give the country the benefit of the natural resource, despite the risk involved.

He said the country was fashioning out laws and regulations to make the sector attractive, hence the authority given to the Petroleum Commission and the sector Ministry to engage in negotiated agreements through competitive tendering processes.

President Akufo-Addo also made it clear that the negotiated settlement could not be misconstrued to be a sell-out, because that option gave the government the opportunity to look for the big players to invest their capital in the risky offshore business.

While acknowledging that natural resources were entrusted under his care for the people, the President also conceded that a section of society was right to be emotional about the use of the resources.

He, however, entreated them to desist from making unsubstantiated claims against the government, saying "we are not at the helm of national affairs to engage in the sell-out of our national resources".

The President commended PIAC, a citizens led watchdog for oil revenue and the upstream petroleum industry, and promised that the government would further collaborate with the committee and its stakeholders to look into matters raised at the two-day technical workshop.

Appreciation

Emerita Prof. Ardayfio-Schandorf expressed appreciation to the government for the utilisation of petroleum revenue for the Agenda 111 project, which involves the construction of hospitals in various districts in the country.

She said PIAC had visited some of the projects in the Greater Accra, Volta and the Upper East regions and was satisfied with work being done.

The chairperson, however, urged the government to consider channelling more petroleum revenues into such monumental projects to accelerate their completion on schedule.

She expressed gratitude to the government for its support for the work of PIAC over the years.